Limits vs Choices
by Ron4
Summary: Now that Luke's no longer a part of Marissa's life, she has choices. Thoughts of both RyanMarissa and SethMarissa.


**_Limits vs. Choices_**

            With all of the happenings in her life, she'd changed.  Her life had changed.

            No longer was she one of the inner-circle of jocks, cheerleaders, hunks, and beauties.

            Her old friends weren't her friends any longer.

            They did't matter anymore.  Holly especially.

            As far as her love life was concerned, there was really only one person.

            Luke.

            How many kids begin dating at the ripe old age of ten years old?

            Sure, there were always those kids that would hold hands and say that they were dating.

            But they were kids.  Some of them still believed in cooties.

            But Luke and Marissa were different.  They had been called Luke and Marissa – there was no Luke, there was no Marissa.

            It was a big deal in fifth grade.

            _Did you hear about Luke and Marissa?_

_            Luke and Marissa are coming to my party this weekend._

_            Have you heard from Luke and Marissa?_

            It seemed as if they didn't exist without one another.

            So when suddenly, Marissa is less a boyfriend, it's a shock to her.  Of course it is; it would be to anyone.

            But it's obviously for the better.

            If he'd choose _Holly _over Marissa, then it was the best thing to do, breaking up.  No, if he'd choose _anyone _over Marissa, then it was the best thing to do.

            Social status gone, Marissa was left with few choices.

            She was stripped clean from the possibilities of all the quote-unquote "hot guys".

            Except… there were two.

            Ryan Atwood and Seth Cohen.

            They were the only two guys who still associated with her.

            But they were the only two who stuck by her side, plus Summer.

            Quality over quantity.

            But back to the boys.

            Marissa had always had a thing for Ryan, but her sudden loss of choice of pretty much anyone had opened her eyes.

            Yes, there was Ryan.

            But there was Seth, too.

            Ryan was the bad boy.

            Seth was the innocent.

            Ryan was the teen angst posterchild.

            Seth was the teen geek posterchild.

            Ryan seemed like the rugged, outdoorsy type.

            Seth would rather sit around the house or lounge in the pool.

            Ryan was the strong, silent type.

            Seth was an ever-ready chatterbox.

            Ryan obviously had what most girls would consider hot, while Seth would just be "cute" or a "sad puppy" to them.

            However, what did Ryan and Marissa really have in common?

            The way their parents acted sometimes?  Even if so, Ryan's parents were much different from Marissa's, in several ways.

            Marissa was half-and-half on the good/bad situation.  Marissa was pretty much an innocent.  She had just lost her virginity while about 90% of the other Newport Beachers had lost theirs long ago.

            Then again, she was almost an alcoholic, she had just OD'd, and her family life was in shambles.

            So then Marissa could deal more with the anxiety of her teenage years rather than the geekdom.  But everyone had their geeky moments.

            But Marissa was more a lounger than an outdoorsman.

            And Marissa could talk.

            Maybe even after her total breakdown, Marissa still had choices.

            Even if she only had two.

            Would Luke and Marissa turn into Ryan and Marissa or Seth and Marissa?

            Maybe both, at different times.

            Maybe neither.

            But she hoped, whichever choice she ended with, that there would be just a Marissa, just a Ryan, and just a Seth.  Without them, she couldn't exist.  But there was no way she was going to make the mistake of limiting herself again.

**_end_**


End file.
